Is there any rhyme-or-reason for that logic? Not really. It's simply the way Clippers coach Larry Yarbray has conditioned his kids. Sadly, for Norristown's sake, the Eagles had to experience the Clippers' ramped-up postseason play first-hand.

Chester obliterated ninth-seeded Norristown, 81-31, Friday night in a District One Class AAAA semifinal, achieving the program's most-lopsided playoff victory in the process.

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The prize for the top-seeded Clippers (25-0), who earned their 51st consecutive win, is a semifinal date against fifth-seeded Wissahickon, a 60-56 winner in double overtime against Central Bucks West. That game tips off at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at Temple University's Liacouras Center.

"It was a good night, to say the least," said Chester junior Richard Granberry.

Yarbray contends the Clippers were unaware that they had never knocked off Norristown in the district-quarterfinal stage, going 0-for-5 against the Eagles in the program's history. But those previous meetings had come at neutral courts.

Nothing's quite like playing at the Clip Joint, Yarbray said.

"The kids get up for certain teams," said Yarbray. "They know Norristown's got tough kids. Norristown in our house? I've been trying to get them here for years. We got them here. Unfortunately they had to take their lumps and bumps tonight.

"A lot of teams watch what we do and they think it's going to be an easy night. Then they try to play us and ... it's a different world."

Chester opened the game with senior guard Kareem Robinson canning a pair of 3-pointers, prompting Norristown coach Mike Evans to call a timeout 55 seconds into the game.

Rondae Jefferson and Erikk Wright made successive buckets off passes from one another, and Evans signaled for another timeout.

For those keeping score at home, that's two timeouts only two minutes into the game.

It only got worse for Norristown from there, both on the scoreboard and elsewhere. Out of the timeout, Wright went to the foul line off a foul on Chester's next possession, converted a pair of freebies and induced a chant from the orange-and-black faithful: "This ... too ... ea-sy."

And that was with the Clippers leading, 12-0. By halftime, Chester had registered 10 assists on 15 buckets to stake a 41-10 edge. Meanwhile, across the floor, Norristown had tallied more turnovers (12) than points scored (10).

It was that kind of night.

Chester eventually ballooned its lead to as many as 51 points in the second half. Never had the Clippers defeated a team in the postseason by more than 49, until Friday's lopsided win, which bested a 75-26 decision over Spring-Ford in the 1956 district tournament.

"I talked to my teammate, Darius (Robinson), before the game and he was like, 'I want to beat these guys by 25,'" Jefferson said. "So I said to him, 'All right, you said it. Let's do it.' We just came out in a snapshot, like, 'Boom.' We went right into it.

"I've never seen that out of this team. Not like that."

Give as much credit for this win to Chester's defense as to its inside attack. The Clippers forced Norristown into 21 turnovers while limited the Eagles to 23-percent shooting (11-for-47).

"We played defense for 32 minutes in this game. That was crazy," Jefferson said with a wide smile.

In the paint, Chester was equally as impressive. Granberry lumped a dozen points with four rebounds, on 6-for-10 shooting. Jefferson totaled 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocked shots to lead the Clippers in each of those statistical categories. And Zamir Geiger and Wright had nine points apiece.

The Clippers outrebounded Norristown, 43-17.

"It really did just happen that way," Granberry said. "I was setting screens, cutting to the basket, and my teammates were just looking for me."

Rashan Dejarnette also had nine points and Shanier Cottman added eight more for the Clippers, who shot 52 percent (32-for-61).